George Russell says Haas & Alfa Romeo look quick in new F1 pecking order

George Russell has said that Haas and Alfa Romeo are both looking pretty close to Mercedes in terms of performance and that both teams had the Silver Arrows on their toes at the Bahrain Grand Prix last weekend.

Russell is now firmly part of the Mercedes team after joining at the start of this Formula 1 campaign and he achieved a solid 4th place on Sunday, as Mercedes benefitted nicely from the double retirement that Red Bull suffered.

Indeed, as things stand, it looks as though the Silver Arrows have the third-quickest car on the grid behind the Bulls and race-winners Ferrari, whilst both Haas and Alfa Romeo look to have made big strides in the off-season with them both earning points in Bahrain.

That said, Russell admitted post-race last weekend that Haas and Alfa both impressed with the pace that they showed:

“Ultimately, this is a sport all about results,” Russell began.

“It doesn’t matter if you have the fastest car or the slowest car, it is about who ends up standing on that top step of the podium.

“If you told us we would come away from this weekend with a P3 and a P4, we absolutely would have taken it.

“We weren’t awfully that much quicker than the midfield and that was probably more of our concern than the guys ahead. We knew we would be a long way behind Red Bull and Ferrari but we equally saw how quick Haas were, how quick Alfa Romeo were.

“McLaren didn’t have points. They had a really difficult weekend here but in Barcelona they looked strong so we have got a lot of work to do.”

Certainly, the pecking order in F1 looks to have been shaken up for the time being at least, with Ferrari and Red Bull now on top, Mercedes in behind, and the likes of Haas and Alfa not far back after that.

Considering how 2021 went,